The Boy Scouts of America announced on Wednesday that it will admit girls into the Cub Scouts starting next year and establish a new program for older girls using the organization’s same curriculum. (Oct. 11, 2017) (Sign up for our free video newsletter here http://bit.ly/2n6VKPR)

The Boy Scouts of America announced on Wednesday that it will admit girls into the Cub Scouts starting next year and establish a new program for older girls using the organization’s same curriculum. (Oct. 11, 2017) (Sign up for our free video newsletter here http://bit.ly/2n6VKPR)

Reyes was cheered Tuesday night by a crowd at an elaborately staged formal kickoff of a campaign...

Declaring that U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is “more connected to radical extremists than to her constituents,” Republican Carlos Reyes is beginning a 14-month effort to unseat the incumbent.

Reyes was cheered Tuesday night by a crowd at an elaborately staged formal kickoff of a campaign...

(Anthony Man)

The Boy Scouts said it was responding to requests for girls and their families.

Reyes said it is a bad move for multiple reasons:

-- Single-sex environments are the best way for boys and girls to learn. "As grandparents and parents to boys and girls … I believe that boys learn best in an all-boy, boy-led environment and girls learn best in all-girl, girl-led environment.

-- It will hurt the Girl Scouts, “which have served our young girls for so long.”

-- It will fail. Reyes dismissed the move as “a marketing ploy that will eventually fail as more families stay away from both organizations.”

Carlos Reyes, a lawyer and the son of Cuban immigrants, launched his campaign for the Republican nomination to unseat U.S. Rep. Debbie Wassserman Schultz, D-Weston, on Aug. 29, 2017.

Hundreds of pepole attended the rally at the Signature Grand in Davie, which featured hundreds of bottles of water with “Reyes for Congress” labels and had a big net of balloons placed in the ceiling for a balloon drop reminicient of presidential nominating conventions.

(Anthony Man)

Reyes suggested a different approach. “Rather than recruiting girls,” he said, “BSA should focus on attracting more Latino, black, and Asian boys from low-income households teaching them traditional values and skills required in life.”

The congressional candidate isn’t alone.

The Girl Scouts aren’t welcoming the competition. “Girl Scouts is the best girl leadership organization in the world, created with and for girls. We believe strongly in the importance of the all-girl, girl-led, and girl-friendly environment that Girl Scouts provides, which creates a free space for girls to learn and thrive,” the Girl Scouts said on its website.

Like Reyes, the Girl Scouts said “the benefit of the single-gender environment has been well-documented by educators, scholars, other girl- and youth-serving organizations, and Girl Scouts and their families.”

Reyes is one of three candidates seeking the Republican nomination to run against the most prominent female Democratic elected official in South Florida: U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, in the Broward/Miami-Dade County 23rd Congressional District.

Wasserman Schultz, who has been a Girl Scout leader, could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.